Bruckner: IV. Symphonie Es-Dur "Romantische" KlangVerwaltung & Enoch zu Guttenberg

• Anton Bruckner (1824 - 1896): IV. Symphonie Es-Dur: "Romantische"
• 1 IV. Symphonie Es-Dur, "Romantische", 1. Satz: Bewegt, nicht zu schnell 20:31
• 2 IV. Symphonie Es-Dur, "Romantische", 2. Satz: Andante quasi Allegretto 16:14
• 3 IV. Symphonie Es-Dur, "Romantische", 3. Satz: Scherzo, Bewegt 10:29
• 4 IV. Symphonie Es-Dur, "Romantische", 4. Satz: Finale: Bewegt, doch nicht zu schnell 22:22
• Total Runtime 01:09:36

Info for Bruckner: IV. Symphonie Es-Dur "Romantische"

When visiting the composer, Bruckner’s former teacher and lifelong friend Otto Kitzler advised him to get married due to his chaotic housekeeping. Appalled, the almost 50 year old musician replied that he had no time, and that he had to work on his Fourth. Because of the debacle at the world premiere of his Third Symphony, Anton Bruckner filed away at the follow-up symphony for a long time. The first version was created in 1874, the second version featuring a completely new Scherzo in 1878. Before its world premiere at the Vienna Musikverein in 1881, Bruckner once more revised the Finale. The result was triumphal. "Bruckner was called back four to five times after every movement. In a word: Bruckner was very well received, since last Sunday he ranks among our most important sound creators and has become a part of our common artistic property." wrote the Wiener Abendpost.

As was to be expected, Enoch zu Guttenberg once again presents an interesting, absolutely unique version of Bruckner’s phenomenal symphony. "I can merely conduct something that I really understand and that charges me emotionally." says the conductor.

With this work, Bruckner sets out on a romantic journey. It is essential to translate his descriptions into images and associations of high dimensionality and luminosity. Images of rays behind foggy mountains, the hunt, the nature and environment of men, and time and again the diminutiveness of these men before nature and hence, before God. We try to express these images by means of sounds, notes, phrasings, and timbres, and bring them to life in the heads of the audience.

With a high consistency, Bruckner develops and conjures these images from but one single central musical building block – the motif of the descending fifth – from the very first moment of the symphony to every single movement. We follow him from the sunrise into the night, from towering summits to the desperately begging choral, from the illusion of a happy liaison back to the mourning of a lonesome human being – always by means of a plastic phrasing and in search of descriptive timbres, which sometimes come surprisingly close to Gustav Mahler’s music, but also conjure up St John Passion, not only in the last movement.

In the symphony’s finale buildup, Bruckner returns with the question of the mortal man about the truth of God, possibly from the majestic nature into the majestic halls of a cathedral. Enoch zu Guttenberg poses this question at the place where this music sounded for the very first time: for him, the long journey of the search for Bruckner’s truth found its answer on April 26th 2007 in the magical halls of Vienna’s Musikverein.

"[…] Enoch zu Guttenberg and the Orchester der KlangVerwaltung present a wonderfully supple and warm live performance on period instruments, with an enormous dynamic range that invites attentive listening on a high-end sound system, and with an exceedingly rich palette that makes the most of Bruckner's colorful scene painting and nostalgic evocation of the early Romantic era. … This is one gorgeous recording by any measure, and well worth hearing […]" (Blair Sanderson, AMG)

"I can’t say that I would replace all of my other favorites with this one; certainly Bohm, Sawallisch, Masur, and Karajan have great things to say in this music. But Guttenberg, having taken the time to examine it from a deeper and more personal level does come up with a new and perspicacious reading that adds to our knowledge of this work and its recorded legacy. Bruckner fans will already be ordering it." (Audiophile Audition, Steven Ritter)

"… Rest assured that the playing is superb […] You need to listen to it, not least because Guttenberg and his musicians obviously love this music to its depths. To cap a fascinating release, the recorded sound is excellent […]" (International Record Review, Colin Anderson)

Orchester der KlangVerwaltung
Enoch zu Guttenberg, conductor

Enoch zu Guttenberg
He has never chosen the easy path. Enoch zu Guttenberg has always followed his convictions and has never gone with the flow. In fact, he has often gone against it. As one of the most notable conductors of our time he has dealt with music in a way that has shaken up critics and audiences alike and brought him international recognition. His career has been accentuated by performances of symphonic works and interpretations of important sacred works on great international stages. Enoch zu Guttenberg has conducted the Staatskapelle Berlin, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the NDR Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken, the MDR Symphony Orchestra and the Nouvelle Orchestre Philharmonique Paris.

The collaboration with two ensembles in particular has made Guttenberg’s artistic vision and musical philosophy a reality: the Chorgemeinschaft Neubeuern, which he has led since 1967, and the Orchester KlangVerwaltung, where he has been artistic director since 1997. Enoch zu Guttenberg has been on international tours with the Orchester KlangVerwaltung, which is composed of musicians from leading symphony and operatic orchestras, as well as internationally famous soloists and chamber musicians over the last few years.

The basis for Enoch zu Guttenberg’s and his ensembles’ interpretations is a symbiosis of well-founded knowledge of historically informed performance practice, an unconditional, compelling orientation towards content and resulting emotionality. This is true for all the major works of the Baroque, Viennese Classicism, the Romantic and Late Romantic eras, as well as compositions from the 20th century. Guttenberg, together with the Chorgemeinschaft Neubeuern and the KlangVerwaltung, has not only celebrated great successes at all important festivals, but also in the Vienna Musikverein, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, in China at the Hong Kong Music Festival and the Beijing Music Festival in 2009, as well as at St Martin in the Fields in London in 2012. A performance of Verdi’s ‘Messa da Requiem’ at the Vatican in honour of Pope Benedict XVI was a particular highlight of the 2010 concert season. 2016 was marked by two major concert tours with his two ensembles. The first was a tour through Asia with celebrated performances in Beijing, Seoul and Suwon, and the second through Canada and the USA. The concerts were a veritable tour de force with standing ovations in the great concert halls of Montreal, Toronto, Philadelphia and Boston. The tour culminated with a stunning performance in Carnegie Hall in New York.

Since 2000, Enoch zu Guttenberg has been the manager of the International Herrenchiemsee Festival. As the artistic director, Guttenberg has worked together with dramaturge Klaus J. Schönmetzler to create a unique concept which is not only characterised by his personality and his convictions, but also incorporates the special history of the locality.

Even if music is always central to his actions and creativity, Guttenberg has not lost sight of the world around him. Whether as a persistent admonisher and visionary in the field of environmental policy, or as a successful promoter of cultural collaboration between East and West – Enoch zu Guttenberg’s upbringing has taught him that it is an obligation to show both political and artistic commitment. He has received many awards for his work over the years, amongst them the Deutsche Kulturpreis and the Cross (First Class) of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany. In 2017, he and Chorgemeinschaft Neubeuern received the Rheingau Musik Preis.

Enoch zu Guttenberg’s musical work has been documented on numerous radio and TV productions, as well as CD recordings. Together with the Orchester KlangVerwaltung, he received the ECHO Klassik in the category ‘Symphony Recording of the Year, Music of the Nineteenth Century’ for the recording of Bruckner’s Symphony No. 4 in E flat major, the ‘Romantic’.

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